ATLANTA - The Cleveland Indians got their first look at Greg Maddux last night. Look, was about all they did, too.

Maddux handcuffed the potent Indians' lineup on two hits, as he led the Atlanta Braves to a 3-2 win in the opening game of the 91st World Series.
The Indians didn't get a hit until Jim Thome's fifth-inning single. The only other came in the ninth; another single by Kenny Lofton. Maddux threw just 95 pitches, and if it hadn't been for two errors and Kenny Lofton's kamikaze base-running, Cleveland would have been shut out.

Which evidently wouldn't have surprised Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove. "I've been in this game a long time and that's as good a game as I've ever seen anyone pitch,'' Hargrove said. "He doesn't have overpowering stuff, but he pitches both sides of the plate. He's up and down and totally dominated. I've never seen anything like that.'' Maddux performance eclipsed a solid outing from Orel Hershiser, who lost for the first time in post-season after seven

consecutive wins. Hershiser allowed only three hits, which accounted for Atlanta's total on the night.
But one of those hits was Fred McGriff's solo homer - in his first World Series at-bat - in the second which tied the game 1-1. It stayed that way until the seventh with a sellout crowd of 51,876 at the Fulton County Chop Shop chanting for a rally.

They got it. Two runs, without a hit. The damage was done on three walks, a ground out and a bunt.
"I felt fine going back out, but I just didn't execute,'' Hershiser said. "I lost my release point and got out of sync.''
He walked McGriff to open the inning, then lost David Justice on four pitches. Hargrove sent pitching coach Mark Wiley to the mound with Paul Assenmacher and Julian Tavarez throwing in the bullpen.

 

"He was just going to talk to him but Orel surprised us," Hargrove said. "He said he was done. We had no intention of taking him out. He caught us off guard. "But we usually have someone up just in case in the seventh with Orel pitching.'' It did the Indians no good.

Assenmacher walked pinch-hitter Mike Devereaux. Luis Polonia pinch hit and his grounder brought McGriff home. Then Rafael Belliard snuck a suicide squeeze into the mix, and Justice scored to make it 3-1.

That was plenty for Maddux, who had trouble only with Kenny Lofton - and the Braves' defence. Cleveland actually led 1-0 when Belliard, playing in place of the injured Jeff Blauser, dropped Lofton's grounder to open the game.

Lofton stole second and third, scoring on a weak grounder.And, it was Lofton again, who made the finish closer than it should've been.

 

He singled with one out in the ninth. Maddux got Vizquel on an innocent grounder to second base, but Lofton went dashing around second to third.

 

When McGriff skipped the throw past third base, Lofton scored again."With his speed, Kenny can distort the game," Hargrove said. "With his aggressiveness, the defence plays out of position; they rush, they make mistakes.''

 

Maddux retired 25 of 26 batters between the first and ninth inning."I don't think Greg made a mistake all night," said John Smoltz, who will start Game 3 for the Braves."It was a masterpiece. He put to rest that he can't pitch in the post-season. He'll never have to hear that again.''

The Indians will try to even the series tonight, sending Dennis Martinez against Tom Glavine. "This club has been resilient all year," Hargrove said. "We'll come back.''